Category Archives: Commentary

Opinion or analysis concerning whatever’s on my mind.

Help Wanted

Posted on September 23, 2018 by JMN

I count ninety-six pieces of J.S. Bach’s “Das Wohltemperirte Klavier” (The Well-tempered Clavier — does “tempered” mean “tuned”?). I don’t know if ninety-six is the canonical count. I may have miscounted. I purchased the recording from iTunes some years ago … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | 2 Comments

You Have to Break an Egg to… You Know the Rest

Posted on September 23, 2018 by JMN

It’s a cruel trick the Fates play on this hapless heathen, but the odds are just as sure as shootin’ that on the rare day I make a three-egg omelet the THIRD egg will have a double yolk! <picture here … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment

Liberties Taken

Posted on September 22, 2018 by JMN

I want to think out loud about how poetry works, but without being too scrupulous about terminology. It just slows me down to try to re-research what the proper name for everything is. For a specimen I want to take … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment

Grace Under Fire

Posted on September 21, 2018 by JMN

My spirits purveyor hails from Boston and likes to revel in how ancient certain landmarks are in that city compared to the scrubby, nondescript backwater he and I both inhabit now — I natively, he God knows why. Sometimes I … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment

Feelings and Imagination

Posted on September 19, 2018 by JMN

I once authored a proto-blog in the BI (Before Internet) epoch, an ante-deluvian moment on the cyber-scale of time. I was based in a rambling bayou city situated in a large, hidebound, arrière-garde, rump-facing state of the sector of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What to Do With Your 2-Week Vacation!

Posted on September 16, 2018 by JMN

Make french fries! Below is a quick summary of the process. For details, go to the article: Gabrielle Hamilton, “Spoil Them a Little With Homemade French Fries,” NYTimes, 9-12-18) 01. Peel-cut 5-6 russet potatoes into .25-x-.25-inch fries. 02. Refrigerate overnight … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Blanco River, by Molly O’Halloran

Posted on September 12, 2018 by JMN

This picture captured me. The act of hand-drawing and painting a map must tap into deep reserves of disciplined obsession. I live toward the bottom of the Guadalupe-Blanco Watershed. When it rains heavily up country it’s possible the mighty Wadi-Loopy … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Category 4 Adverb Storm

Posted on September 12, 2018 by JMN

This just in: Extreme preparedness for extreme wetness! “Hurricane Florence / [***] says government is ‘absolutely, totally prepared’ for storm… [***] says storm will be ‘tremendously big and tremendously wet’….“ (The Guardian, 9-12-18) [Copyright (c) 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment

This Is Akin to That: Scoping Language

Posted on September 11, 2018 by JMN

“Gun rights groups have vowed to fight such moves [to limit the unfettered sale of bullets]: ‘Raising taxes on bullets to offset the cost of gun violence is akin to putting a levy on prescription drugs to pay for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment

There Are No “Simple” Truths

Posted on September 5, 2018 by JMN

By labeling what was essentially an opinion as a “truth” I’ve fallen into a hole I try to skirt as much as I can. Better to have said, “I agree” that knowledge is better than ignorance, leaving truth out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged | 3 Comments